In case you’ve been attending too many barbecues and holiday-week functions, the major college basketball news of the week was Butler head coach Brad Stevens taking over the reigns as the next head coach of the Boston Celtics.

All speculation about the future aside, it was surely a chaotic week for Stevens and his family.

But as we heard the outpouring of stories and support for Stevens, this story from the Indianapolis Star just might be the very best example of how Brad Stevens truly gets it.

One day after his official press conference introducing him as the new head coach of the NBA’s most storied franchise, Stevens will honor a nearly year-long commitment to Stan Howard — the father of former Butler standout forward Matt Howard — by participating in today’s bicentennial parade in the town of Connersville, Indiana.

Connersville has a population of 13,481 people — according to the 2010 Census — so it would surprise nobody if Stevens had other priorities on his mind with his new gig, but as Howard told the Indy Star, Stevens is a loyal man of his word.

“There’s one side of me that was like, there’s no possible way he’ll be able to make it,” Stan Howard said. “But there’s another side, the side that knows Brad Stevens. If you’re loyal to him, he is loyal to you. Part of me just said, ‘That dude’s going to find a way to get here!’

“It speaks volumes of the man. And it means the world to me.”

Stevens is already at the parade this morning, signing autographs for kids and is sure to receive a hero’s welcome in basketball-crazed Indiana as the parade moves through Connersville.

says it all…….is there another coach that would do it if in the same situation………..can’t think of one that OBVIOUSLY would………guess Tommy Lasorda’s famous quote applies here…….He may not be in a class by himself, but it sure doesn’t take long to call the roll!